There's Something About Mary
by The Writer II
Summary: Chapter 11! Carlos returns home! Mary talks to Lucy! All leading up to Chapter 12!
1. There's Something About Mary

**THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY**

**PART I**

* * *

**Let's get caught up with America's favorite family, the Camdens. Rated PG-13 for abject misery, drug references, and other dark things that 12-year-olds just wouldn't understand.**

_Plot based on a true story_

* * *

Things had changed.  
  
Yes, _changed_, for the Camdens.  
  
Old was out, new was in, and each of the seven _Camchildren's _respective lives had begun to take shape.  
  
**Matt Camden** had a wife and a career in nursing.  
  
**Lucy Camden-Kinkirk **had a husband, a son, and a quaint little house in the hills.  
  
**Simon Camden** was in his Senior Year at college.  
  
**Ruthie Camden** had a learner's permit, a boyfriend, and several telephone books she could sit on to help her see the road when she drove.  
  
**Sam Camden** was in the second grade.  
  
**David Camden** was in the fourth grade _(he was... well, to put it Annie's way: "Just a little bit more special than [Sam was].")  
_  
**Mary Camden**? We'll get to her later.  
  
Meanwhile, Eric and Annie Camden moved into a new, larger house. They' had come into money _(we won't go into how—that would be another, albeit disturbing story)_. With the money, they were not only able to move into a new home, but they also were able to buy their old, church-paid home.  
  
They hoped to rent it out and make some extra money.  
  
With all of their children but Ruthie and the twins gone, Eric and Annie also decided to move onto a new part of their lives.  
  
Eric hired a maid_ (which benefited both the matriarch and patriarch of the family... in different was, of course)._ Annie began salsa-dancing lessons with a former Spanish soap opera star, known only as _El Diablo_. Eric also thrust himself back into the church, and realized that if he were to be a legitimate man of the cloth, he would need to pray more. 

All of this, of course, pales in comparison to the story of...

Mary Camden-Rivera.  
  
She, Carlos, and their baby boy, Charles, had fallen into... well, let's say, _poverty_.  
  
They were poor.  
  
Not _painfully_ poor. They just couldn't manage paying rent, utilities—and buying food as well—in their little place in the city.  
  
Carlos made money, but just enough to keep a roof over his head and one or two things in the fridge to eat.  
  
Electricity? _Out of the question_.  
  
Water? _Barely_.  
  
Phone? _Luckily!_  
  
Conveniences? _No way.  
_  
Mary was terribly depressed about the whole situation. Her life was a mess—and not just because of poverty.  
  
Carlos wasn't the _best_ husband in the world. Mary was sure he was cheating on her. Not only that, but he had an interesting penchant for a little drug known as marijuana.  
  
Mary didn't like this. But there was nothing she could do. Deep down, she loved Carlos. The idea of leaving him was frightening to her. Not to mention the fact that he was the only one in the family making any money at all.  
  
Without him, Mary and Charles would be homeless.  
  
Leaving Carlos was out of the question.  
  
Yet, as Mary lay on the bed, next to her sleeping child, she couldn't help but think: "I have to do something."  
  
It was raining as she wept, silently, hoping Charles wouldn't wake up and be concerned. Her life was a complete disaster, and she had nobody to turn to. She rarely left her house—she lived in a very bad neighborhood—and she knew nobody, except for the schizophrenic neighbor next door. _(And she only knew him through of a series of circumstances that are, at the very least, cringe-worthy)._  
  
Mary thought about calling Lucy, but the idea made her nauseous.  
  
Lucy was the only one in the Camden family Mary had a remote contact with. They talked once in a while. Mary would usually be the one to call. Mary felt even more like a failure whenever she called Lucy, knowing that her sister was so well off, successful and happy.  
  
Mary had to talk to someone, however. She needed someone to tell about her various problems. Not necessarily about Carlos' problems. More like the problems concerning bills, money, and abject poverty.  
  
So Mary picked up the phone, dialed up Lucy Kinkirk's number, and waited for her sister to answer.  
  
When Mary heard the familiar voice of her sister, she aired all her problems out in rapid fashion. It wasn't until after she finished going through all her trials and tribulations that she realized that Lucy would probably relay all of this information to Eric and Annie.  
  
Lucy, in her sympathetic tone, told Mary all the familiars:  
  
_"I'm sure things will work out for the best."  
  
"Is there anything I can do?"  
  
"Nothing stays bad forever."_  
  
Lucy, of course, had problems of her own. Like the fact that she had a broken arm from a... _boating accident_...  
  
She cared, certainly, but she didn't really have any time for Mary's constant and continuous sob story.  
  
Granted, she cared enough to tell Eric and Annie, but she didn't really care enough to help. Mary was an _adult_, after all. Older than _she_ was, actually. Lucy had a child to take care of. A husband to feed. A life of her own to live.  
  
Of course, none of this was relayed to Mary. Lucy read from the familiar script, said all of her lines, and delivered a fantastic performance as the caring sister.  
  
As soon as _Mrs. Kinkirk_ hung up the phone, she dialed up mommy and daddy and told them everything they needed to know.

* * *

It was Annie who first thought of it.  
  
"What if we let them rent out the house?"  
  
"I don't know, Mrs. Camden. You should probably be talking to Eric about this."  
  
_El Diablo_ was right. Annie waited for her husband to return from work, and asked him the same question _(after, of course, letting him in on Mary's struggles)._  
  
"I don't know, Annie. Mary... she's proven herself to be very irresponsible."  
  
"Come on, Eric. This is our daughter we're talking about. And, we'll be able to get that money off the house. We could put on the additions we've always wanted." Annie, of course, referred to her new home. She wanted to turn the attic into a makeshift ballroom. Of course, that would require some extra money. Money that would come from a certain '_bad seed' _of the family.  
  
Eric sighed. "I'll have to think about it."  
  
"What do you mean 'think about it'?"  
  
"Well, Annie... if we rent the place out to Mary... we're her parents, and she might think she doesn't have to pay the rent each month. And if she's late, we can't just kick her out."  
  
"What do you mean? Of course we can. It won't have to come to that anyway, Eric. Just do it. For me?"  
  
"But Annie, if we just hold out for a couple more weeks—there's this family that really likes the house. We can charge them much more than we could ever, in good conscience, charge Mary."  
  
"Nonsense. We'll do it."  
  
"But—"  
  
"We'll do it."  
  
Eric submitted to Annie's power.  
  
Annie couldn't wait to have Mary nearby again. Under her thumb again. Mary's independence had been a major kick in the hide to Annie. To see her come crawling back under her roof _(albeit, one she didn't live in anymore)_ was satisfying to say the least.  
  
Ruthie overheard the entire conversation.  
  
Mary.  
  
Mary.  
  
_There was something about Mary.  
_  
Something that Ruthie just didn't like.  
  
It really dated back to when Mary vandalized the school gym, and was subsequently _(after, of course, more scandal, trials, tribulations, and debt collectors)_ sent away to Buffalo.  
  
Something happened in that period of time to make Ruthie really dislike her older sister. That dislike stayed with Ruthie. That dislike was still in Ruthie, now sixteen.  
  
The idea of Mary and her hubby inhabiting the house she grew up in made Ruthie angry. Very angry.  
  
Of course, there was nothing she could do about it. Annie wanted it, so Annie was going to get it. Even Ruthie knew who she could and could not mess with. All the same, she didn't like the situation. Not at all.

* * *

Mary picked up the phone. She had been asleep, even though it was seven in the evening. Carlos hadn't returned from work yet. She, of course, was used to this.  
  
She wasn't used to, however, the sound of her mother's voice on the phone.  
  
"Mom?" She asked, bewildered, after Annie greeted her.  
  
"Mary! I haven't heard your voice in so long."  
  
"Mom?"  
  
"I've heard about your situation, and I really want to help. You were my first-born daughter, after all. It breaks my heart to hear that you're suffering."  
  
"Mom?"  
  
"I really want to help you out—especially little Charles—and I wondered if you'd like to move into the old house."  
  
Mary was speechless. Annie continued on:  
  
"You would have to pay rent, but only if you can manage it. And your father and I could help out with the utilities."  
  
Mary couldn't believe it. She was torn. On one hand, this sounded too good to be true. On the other hand, if she took her mother's help, it would be as if she were admitting her failure as an independent woman.  
  
But Mary took one look at Charles and realized she knew what she had to do. Pride be damned, she had to do what was best for her son. So she agreed.  
  
And the rest, is history.  
  
Well, not necessarily. Let me take that last sentence back.  
  
No. The rest was just beginning.  
  
Mary, Carlos and Charles did indeed move into the old house. But that wasn't all. Carlos still didn't make much money. Carlos still had his problems with women and drugs. The only thing that changed in Mary Camden's life was her address. 


	2. Movin' on Up?

**THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY**

**PART II**

* * *

**Mary moves in. Insanity ensues. So to speak. Rated PG-13 for a reference to the 7th Heaven episode 'Angel'.**

_Plot based on a true story_

* * *

_Cold soup._  
  
That was what Mary Camden thought about as she entered the house she once inhabited. The house she grew up in.  
  
The house she had been kicked out of.  
  
Memories hit her, instantly. Some good, some bad.  
  
The house was empty, now.  
  
The house was hers, now. So to speak.  
  
She looked around. She remembered this place. The smell, the sounds, Annie standing in the corner, staring at her...  
  
Mary gasped. She had forgotten that her mother was with her.  
  
Annie had a strange look on her face. It was indecipherable. Mary didn't even want to think of what was in her mother's head. She knew she was playing with fire. Annie was unstable, to say the least. Mary knew this.  
  
Mary experienced this.  
  
Of course, none of that mattered. For what it was worth, she was secure. She and her son, at the very least, had a roof over their heads. And, since Annie had said 'pay rent, only if you can manage it', Mary was cautiously optimistic that she might actually be able to have electricity for an extended period of time.  
  
The money she didn't use for rent could be used for other things. Like, convenience. She and Charles had been living on ready-made canned soup the last several months, since the gas was cut off.  
  
The one time they had anything other than cold soup in recent memory was disastrous. Mary and Carlos had a screaming match. The result? Mary and Charles spent the night with the schizophrenic neighbor. Mary fixed herself and her son a pair of mayonnaise sandwiches. What they didn't know was that the neighbor was in the habit of leaving his condiments out for hours on end and putting them back in the fridge.  
  
His explanation? **He was certifiably insane.  
**  
Mary and Charles ended up with salmonella poisoning and really bad bouts of nausea. Luckily, nothing worse happened.  
  
Mary very much preferred to think about cold soup rather than bad mayo.  
  
Annie's eyes, much like the mayonnaise sandwiches, made Mary nauseous. They probed, those eyes. They probed and judged and put people down. Mary had forgotten. Now she remembered. Oh, she remembered.  
  
Unpacking, they were. Mary, Annie, Ruthie, Eric, and Carlos were all there. **In true Camden tradition**, the women stood around while the men did the heavy lifting. Eric threw out his back at one point, but that was easily corrected when Annie told him it didn't hurt that much.  
  
Mary noticed Ruthie. The youngest Camdaughter had several of Annie's genes. _Okay, characteristics. Let's not get ahead of ourselves._  
  
For instance, the eyes.  
  
Ruthie had learned _the look_. She either learned it from years of observation, or she had come up with her own individual glare. Regardless, she had it. Those probing eyes. Those judging eyes. Eyes that put you down and made you feel small.  
  
Eyes like that were great assets, especially to people like Ruthie and Annie. People who loved power.  
  
Not that Mary was intimidated by her younger sister. Mary had been there, done that. Mary had dealt with nasty looks and glares in her day.  
  
Charles was there. Sam and David, as well. Like many little children in the Camden universe, they had been briefly forgotten and left to their own devices. The result of this was Sam and Charles both sampling a jar of paste while David looked on, disdainfully.  
  
The twins were briefly scolded by their mother. Annie didn't use her 'look' on Sam. He was too young—his head might have exploded right then and there. David? Was another story. David was special. Ruthie had been training him.  
  
Time flew by. Considering the small amount of things Mary and Carlos had, most of the time was spent standing around, awkwardly. In fact, the idea that Eric would throw out his back carrying any of the small boxes into the house caused brief laughter from his wife.  
  
This was strange, of course, considering that Annie didn't laugh. It became even stranger when Annie exclaimed _'I'm not high!'_ in response to the strange looks she got.  
  
After this, everyone decided it was time to leave. Eric, Annie and Ruthie gave half-hearted goodbyes to Mary and left. Eric was the only one to actually acknowledge Carlos on the way out.  
  
This irritated Mary. But she had to take her lumps if she wanted to be remotely comfortable.  
  
She wanted to be happy, but something just wasn't clicking for her.  
  
While she and her child were living under a comfortable roof, Mary had—in the process of achieving this—given up her independence.  
  
Independence was very important, especially dealing with people like Annie.  
  
Matt was independent. Lucy was independent _(at least, to Mary)._ Simon, to some degree, was independent. Ruthie, more due to her personality than to her situation, was independent. Even David _(due to Ruthie's expert training)_ was independent.  
  
Mary felt like she was in the same league as her little brother, Sam. The only difference was that she didn't eat paste or still wear diapers.  
  
After all that hard work to get out from under her mother's thumb, she found herself back at square one. Living in her parents' house. Only this time, she would be paying rent _(if she could manage it, of course)._  
  
She could figure it out. Had she made a good decision? Or a bad one? Time would tell. Time would _certainly_ tell. 


	3. The Late Late Show

**THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY**

**PART III**

* * *

**Short chapter. Mary panics when Carlos isn't home at three in the morning. Rated PG-13 for references to staying up late and abject panic.**

* * *

_"Ruthie, can you babysit for me next Tuesday? I'm getting my cast taken off."  
  
"Sure, Luce."  
  
"Thanks. You're a lifesaver. Kevin's going to be... busy all day tomorrow. He won't even have any time to drive me to the cl—"  
  
"You would have to pay me, though."  
  
"Oh. I..."  
  
"Fifty."  
  
"Dollars?"  
  
"Is that too much? I can take as little as thirty-five."  
  
"Well... I... guess. That seems like a lot, though."  
  
"Well... I **guess** I could go as low as thirty."_

_"Okay."_

_"Great. You're the best."_

_

* * *

_  
Night.  
  
Bad things usually happen at night.  
  
Carlos had gone out.  
  
He'd been out for a long time.  
  
An exceptionally long time.  
  
Mary was worried. Very, _very_ worried.  
  
Granted, Carlos spent one or two nights a _week_ out until after one o'clock. But it was three. Three in the morning. And Mary was wide awake, hoping and praying her husband was alright.  
  
Things had been finally starting to look up for Mary, and now this. For all she knew, her husband was dead.  
  
Charles was asleep. Mary was awake, by herself, worrying herself into a state, watching as the clock moved its way towards four in the morning.  
  
She was in the living room, pacing through the place she knew so well.  
  
She was drowsy and anxious, unable to sleep and unable to stay awake. Visions began to invade her head. Visions her husband, _dead_, crushed in a terrible accident.  
  
Bad visions. Bad, _bad_ visions.  
  
What would she do if Carlos were to die? She'd be on her own. Granted, she would have her child and her ever-nosy relatives, but Charles was just three-years-old, and her family had no concern for her well being_ (just interest in where her train-wreck of a life would go next).  
_  
Mary continued to pace through the living room, terrified of the prospect of losing her husband. He may have been a cheating drug-abuser, but he was all she had—sans Charles, of course.  
  
All she could see in her head was Carlos, bleeding, crushed, and bludgeoned. The combination of panic and staying up till mid-morning rid her mind of any rational, calm thought. Her brain was screaming things like:  
  
"He's **dead**! Oh GOD! He's dead—what are you going to do now? Your life is_ over_! He has to be dead—it's practically five in the morning! He's never been home this late before! How are you going to tell Charles? How are you going to pay the _rent_? How are you going to live without the _love of_ _your life?"_  
  
Not only could she not think clearly, but she could barely breathe as well. She needed to lie down just to get through the next five minutes of waiting before Carlos finally came home. 

Her panic ceased, and Carlos had no explanation for why he was out for so long.  
  
He merely entered the house, took off his clothes, and requested Mary give him _'fantastic sex'_ as he so aptly put it.  
  
Carlos wasn't the greatest husband in the world.


	4. Bad News, Part I

**THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY**

**PART IV**

* * *

**Bigger! Longer! Uncut! This is the chapter where everything begins to take shape. **

_Plot based on a true story_

* * *

Less than a week later, Carlos Rivera was once again out past three in the morning.  
  
Once again, Mary worried. Not as much as the first time.  
  
Mary figured—make that hoped and prayed—that Carlos was just out doing whatever he was doing a few nights earlier.  
  
While, in the back of her mind, she still wondered if he was, well, a bloody mess of death stuck in a ditch somewhere, she knew that he could easily just be out drinking or snorting something with his friends _(none of whom, luckily, she had ever met)._  
  
So, even though she still felt nauseous about the fact that her husband wasn't home at twenty to four, she felt strangely confident that, if anything, he was just getting high on something.  
  
Then the phone call came.  
  
Mary hadn't been expecting it. She knew it just had to be bad news.  
  
In regular circumstances, Carlos wouldn't call Mary if he was late. He would just show up, request _'fantastic sex'_, and be done with it.  
  
So, when Mary picked up the phone, she did it with dread and apprehension filling every part of her body.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
Silence, at first.  
  
Then...  
  
"Mary, I'm in deep shit."  
  
It was Carlos.  
  
"I'm in... well, I'm in jail."  
  
It was Carlos, in jail.  
  
"They got me for exposing myself to some girl—I didn't even do it, man. I swear."  
  
It was Carlos, in jail for exposing himself.  
  
Mary was stunned, of course.  
  
She would have put down good money that if Carlos had ever gone to jail, it would have been for some kind of _drug-related_ crime.  
  
Exposing himself?  
  
This was new.  
  
"You've got to get me out of here."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Mary?"  
  
"I'm here."  
  
"You've got to get me out of here." Carlos reiterated.  
  
Mary nodded, not necessarily to Carlos, because he couldn't see her. She couldn't help but think _'kill me now, Lord, please...',_ yet she still managed to grab control of the situation.  
  
She got information on where Carlos was, how to contact him again, and how much money she would need to shell out for bail.  
  
Of course, she had no money—not to mention any transportation—so she knew it would take awhile to bust her hubby out of the big house.  
  
It was like this: She was already facing an unhittable pitcher in the World Series. And, if that wasn't enough, he comes out, and throws half a broken bat at her out of nowhere. In other words, things were already bad. Now they were worse. Surreal, almost.  
  
Mary expected this, though. It was a surprise, but she expected it. 

Strange, she thought.

* * *

Mary did not sleep that night. She spent the rest of the early morning, wondering what she would do. She was living in her parents' house, with a young son she could barely take care of and a husband in jail. She briefly wondered what an entire bottle of pills tasted like, but shook that thought from her head when confronted with the image of her baby boy.  
  
In order to get Carlos out of jail, Mary would need money. She would need, at the very, very _least,_ ten dollars so she could get a taxi ride up to the prison. Then, she would need bail money. Or, she could contact one of her family members and get a ride, but... 

...the very _thought_ of one of her family members finding out that Carlos was in jail was almost as bad as finding out Carlos was in jail _in the first place_. That couldn't happen. There was _no_ Camden she could trust.  
  
Of course, if she didn't let off some steam, there was every possibility that her residence would turn into the scene of a grizzly suicide, complete with television news reporters. Mary knew she had to _do_ something.  
  
She knew she had to _call_ someone.  
  
So, she—against her better judgment—picked up the phone.  
  
And—against her better judgment—dialed up Lucy Kinkirk's number.  
  
It was a quarter to six, just a few hours after she initially learned the news. Mary felt like she had known for much longer than a couple of hours. Then again, time tends to drag on for those hit with shocking news.  
  
Lucy had been asleep, of course. Her husband was already off to work. She didn't have to worry about waking up at four in the morning, what with being a stay-at-home mom. Kevin told her that constantly, making sure Lucy knew what she was doing was small in comparison to his line of work.  
  
The sound of the phone broke Lucy from her slumber. She was surprised and angered that someone would be calling her so early in the morning. In the quick moment before she picked up the phone, she wondered if something might have happened to Kevin. That thought brought unwanted excitement to the young mother.  
  
Lucy picked up the phone.  
  
"Hello?" She asked, cringing at her ability to taste her own morning breath.  
  
"Lucy?"  
  
"Mary?"  
  
There were a few moments of dead air before Mary began to speak.

"I'm in trouble, Lucy."


	5. Bad News, Part II

**THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY**

**PART V**

* * *

**Even bigger! Even longer! Even more uncut! ****PG-13 for a Twisted Ruthie sighting.**

Plot based on a true story

* * *

"I'm in trouble, Lucy."  
  
Lucy nodded to herself. _Why am I not surprised?_ She thought.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Can you keep this between the two of us?"  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"I... I'd really like to hope that you won't tell anyone about this. This is something... it's something I really need you to keep between you and me."  
  
"Okay. What happened?'  
  
"Carlos. He's... he got arrested."  
  
_Why am I not surprised?_ Lucy thought.  
  
"What should I do, Lucy?"  
  
Lucy thought for a minute. She had no advice whatsoever for her sister. So, she manufactured advice she didn't really think would work.  
  
"Well... just stay calm."  
  
"How can I stay calm? My husband is in jail, I have a three-year-old son—I'm living in my parents' house! Lucy, I... I don't know what to do."  
  
"Do you need me to help you bail him out?"  
  
"That would... that would help. A lot."  
  
"How long can you wait? I have an appointment to get my cast taken care of."  
  
"I mean... whenever's comfortable for you."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Just please—I'm begging you—don't tell anyone about this."  
  
"I won't."  
  
Lucy then woke up fully and realized:  
  
"Wait a minute. My husband's a police officer. I'm sure I could get him to—"  
  
"He wasn't arrested here. He was arrested in a whole other county—a completely different area. Different police. Kevin wouldn't be able to..."  
  
"Hmm. Where _was _he?"  
  
"I don't... exactly know. All I know is that some girl accused him of... of, well, exposing himself to her. That's just something he wouldn't do. Believe me."  
  
"I believe you." Lucy said, while simulatenously thinking about how much of a sicko Carlos must have been. "Look, right now, you sound pretty tired. Maybe you should just get some rest and let's talk about it later in the morning."  
  
"Well... okay."  
  
"Don't worry." Lucy said, haphazardly, "Everything will be alright."

"I don't know, Luce... I just..."

"Things will be better in the morning. I'm sure of it. Just..." Lucy searched for something to say, and found it after a moment of awkwardness: "Just hang in there."

"Okay. Sorry to burden you with all of this."

"I forgive you. I'm hanging up, now."  
  
With that, Lucy hung up, happy to get her sister off the phone and get back to sleep. But she couldn't just slip back into the peaceful slumber she had been in before. In fact, she lay awake for several minutes, thinking about the news she had just received.  
  
As much as she didn't want to care, there was something in her that made her think: **"Wow. My sister is a real failure. Big time. That's a shame."**  
  
That same thing made her realize that she couldn't just tell her parents about this little development. Lucy had gone through her own trials and tribulations with her own husband, and she knew very well that she wouldn't want any of her relatives knowing what went on between the Kinkirks when the drapes were closed.  
  
Some feeling of familiarity—a strange _kinship_—is what Lucy felt towards her sister. They both had husbands who were, to put it mildly, less than perfect. To put it accurately, they were pigs. Horrible, uncaring pigs who made people like Lucy and Mary completely _miserable_ and unhappy.  
  
Lucy knew how Mary felt. Not exactly, of course, because Kevin had never been arrested (he was a police officer, after all). But Lucy still had a good idea of what Mary was thinking and feeling.  
  
So, Lucy decided that she would, in fact, keep this news mum.  
  
That didn't mean the news wouldn't get out... somehow.


	6. Bad News, Part III

**THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY**

**PART VI**

* * *

**Part three of Chapter Four is up. Rated PG-13 for references to Ruthie.**

_Plot based on a true story_

* * *

Ruthie Camden arrived at the Kinkirk residence early. It was summer, which meant sixteen-year-olds and others like them could roam free in what were usually their caging times.  
  
The youngest Camden daughter loved the idea of babysitting her little nephew. Or, at least, that's what she told Lucy.

What Ruthie really loved to do was to sort through Lucy's things. For instance, Lucy's diary. That kept Ruthie entertained every time she went over to the Kinkirk home.  
  
_Oh!_ The material in that diary.  
  
Ruthie _loved_ it.  
  
She was planning to use it as part of one gigantic attack on the Camdens once she turned eighteen. She had been gathering information for years, and had enough of it to reduce the entire clan to mush once she was a legal adult.  
  
Lucy, Kevin's punching bag. Ruthie wasn't surprised. Lucy could have been Ruthie's own punching bag, had the right situation presented itself.  
  
After the obligatory hellos, and after Lucy left in a cab for the clinic, Ruthie began her search through the house for good material. Lucy's son be damned—Ruthie had a job to do.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mary Camden was busy feeding her son whatever remained in the fridge from the small amount of shopping she was able to do a week earlier.  
  
Usually, Charles wasn't fed, but he didn't mind this little surprise. It saved him the trouble of having to lift his tired arms, and his mother's trembling hands made every bite an interesting adventure.  
  
Mary had called Lucy a couple hours earlier. Lucy requested that Mary e-mail her the address and directions to the jail.  
  
Mary then explained to Lucy that she had no computer.  
  
Lucy then asked Mary to tell her the address and directions so she could write it down.  
  
This was done. After that, Lucy asked Mary if she had considered getting a bondsman to bust Carlos out of prison. Mary didn't know what a bondsman was. Rather than explain it to her sister, Lucy decided to forget about the idea and just pay the bond herself.

Well, she couldn't do it herself. Kevin owned the house, and owning property was a prerequisite to busting someone out of the big house. Getting Kevin to agree to help get Carlos out of jail would be hard, and Kevin literally could not be manipulated. Lucy knew she had a tough job ahead of her, and silently wondered why she was helping Mary in the first place.  
  
Mary, meanwhile, put on a brave face for her child. She didn't want little Charles to worry. She fed him his breakfast with a smile on her face and a scream in her heart, masking away at her true emotions.  
  
That scream in Mary's heart would have become even louder had she known the events taking place in the Kinkirk household.

* * *

Lucy had been rushing to get ready for the cab, which had come a little too early for her. The driver had been blowing his horn for several minutes, loudly and obonxiously.

Unfortunately, in her haste, Lucy left the paper with all of Carlos' jail information in her house.  
  
Not only that, she left it in an easy to reach place: not on top of one of those high cabinets Ruthie had to struggle with chairs to reach, but right on the dining room table.  
  
Ruthie, of course, found the paper.  
  
On the paper was scribbled many things. Many things concerning Carlos Rivera and his legal problems. The address of the jail, the directions to the jail, how much bail would cost, and the proverbial **yada, yada, yada**.  
  
Ruthie was overjoyed.  
  
Literally overjoyed.  
  
She could have done a cartwheel.  
  
Never, in her wildest dreams, did she expect to find something so juicy, so _scandalous_, so_** huge**_, so easily!  
  
She didn't even have to break a sweat to find this. It was sitting out there, on the table, in the view of all.  
  
Granted, at first, she didn't know it was Carlos who was in prison. But, process of elimination helped her greatly.  
  
It couldn't have been Kevin, because he was a police officer, and in Glenoak, they could do no wrong. It also couldn't have been Kevin, because Lucy would never have had the guts to turn him in for spousal abuse.  
  
It certainly couldn't be Matt or Simon, because they were Camdens, and Camdens were untouchable. Not only that, but the two of them hadn't planned on showing their faces in Glenoak again, and the address for the jail was one Ruthie recognized. It was on the same street as the shelter Lucy thought about entering. _(How did Ruthie know this? Lucy's diary.)_

And, most obviously, the words **'Help Mary get Carlos out of Jail'** were written on the top of the paper prominently.  
  
This news, compounded with the fact that Ruthie all but hated Mary, made the youngest Camden daughter a very happy camper.  
  
Of course, she couldn't keep this news to herself. She had to tell Eric and Annie. And once Eric and Annie found out that Mary had been keeping a criminal in the house... let's just say an eviction notice would be in order. Ruthie knew Annie. Ruthie knew Annie was just waiting for the right piece of news to kick Mary out. Ruthie knew this was the right piece of news.


	7. License to Drive

**THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY**

**PART VII**

* * *

Ruthie Camden strolled into her house, after putting up with Lucy's spawn, and gave her mother a look that simply stated, meant **'I know something you don't know.'**  
  
Annie hated looks like this—especially ones coming from her daughter. It didn't take Annie too long, though, to get the news out of her child.  
  
"Ruthie? Is there something you want to tell me?'  
  
"Not really."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Well... there is _something_. I just... I don't know if I should tell you about it."  
  
"What do you mean?" Annie knelt down to her daughter, meeting her at eye level. "You can tell me anything, Ruthie."  
  
Annie stared into Ruthie's eyes, prompting David to begin playing his toy guitar softly in the background.  
  
"Well... it's about Mary."  
  
"Mary? What's about Mary?"  
  
"Her husband is in jail."  
  
Annie was slightly surprised, but not shocked.  
  
"Jail?"  
  
Ruthie nodded. It was everything the girl could do not to smile.  
  
"Where did you find that out?"  
  
"Lucy..." Ruthie thought for a moment. Why did Lucy have information on Carlos' legal problems, anyway? And when was Lucy planning on telling anyone? Usually, if Lucy found out anything about anyone, she would immediately direct it to mother.  
  
Through another quick process of elimination, it quickly became obvious to Ruthie that Mary had not only told Lucy about what happened, but she also must have asked Lucy not to tell anyone about Carlos' arrest.  
  
This gave Ruthie an idea. Why not have a little fun? She thought.  
  
"Lucy told me."  
  
"Lucy told you?" Ruthie nodded. "How did she know?"  
  
Ruthie shrugged. "Mary must have told her."  
  
"Well, why did Mary call Lucy first? Why didn't she call me? I'm her mother—I should have known first."  
  
"I don't know. Maybe you should call her up. If she's home. For all I know, she could be at the jail."  
  
"At the jail?"  
  
"Uh-huh. Lucy went to get her cast off, but she probably picked up Mary and took care of Carlos too. If you ask me, mom, I think they're going to try and have all this go over and not let you know about it."  
  
Ruthie made a lot of sense. This angered Annie. The idea of Mary and Lucy hiding the arrest from her, that is.  
  
"I think I'll try Mary right now."  
  
Annie went to her phone and dialed up her daughter's number. Ruthie watched, guardedly giddy, as her mother waited for what seemed like hours before hanging up.  
  
"Not there?" Ruthie asked.  
  
"It certainly doesn't seem that way. Maybe I should stop by the house."  
  
Ruthie perked up at this idea. Imagine the possibilities of a direct confrontation! Not only that, but...  
  
"I could drive."  
  
Annie looked at her daughter, skeptically.  
  
"What?" Ruthie asked, upon seeing her mother's look.

* * *

Ruthie, sitting in her makeshift high chair, drove at a snail's pace, to appease her mother. Ruthie, of course, wasn't happy about this at all.  
  
Annie, of course, didn't care. She was busy, steaming about the fact that her daughters were deliberately hiding something from her.  
  
It enraged the matriarch of the family. Annie had a right to know. _Everything_.  
  
The fact that Mary and Lucy would try to cover up a story as big as the fact that Carlos was in jail made Annie feel not only angry, but also insignificant.  
  
It was a '_What am I? Chopped liver?_' situation.  
  
Annie was snapped from her thoughts by the fact that Ruthie was heading for a stop sign and not slowing down a single bit.  
  
"Ruthie, are you paying attention to the road?"  
  
Ruthie, who had herself, been fantasizing about the potential brawl that would happen once Annie and Mary got within ten feet of each other, snapped from her mental slumber.  
  
"Huh? Of course."  
  
Ruthie slowed the car to a stop, and then turned the corner.  
  
From there, things became _very_ interesting.  
  
There was a small dog in the road. Very small. It bore a striking resemblance to the _Taco Bell_ dog of years ago.  
  
Ruthie spotted the dog, just as she was turning onto the road. Using her recently acquired driving instincts, she pressed down on the break to avoid running the poor thing over.  
  
Unfortunately for her and her mother as well, she pressed down on the brakes hard.

_Too_ hard.  
  
The car jolted to a stop quickly and sharply. Both Annie and Ruthie were thrust forward, only their seatbelts keeping them from flying through the windshield.  
  
Then, they were thrust backwards, hard, against their seats.  
  
"Oh God..." Ruthie moaned, instant pain traveling to her neck. "My neck..."  
  
"What were you thinking? What were you doing?"  
  
Ruthie grimaced. "There was a dog—"  
  
"Don't you realize we could have been killed?"  
  
"What was I supposed to do?"  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
"I guess, I just—"  
  
"Get up."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Get up, I'm driving."  
  
"I can drive, I just—"  
  
Honking horns. A car had driven up behind them, and the inhabitants were wondering why the _Camcar_ was stalled in the road.  
  
"Get up."  
  
"I can drive—"  
  
"There are people behind us—let me drive."  
  
"No! I can—"  
  
Ruthie stopped herself. There was no arguing with Annie Camden, and she knew it. Not only that, but Ruthie knew Annie was just waiting for the right button to be pushed so she could lay the hammer down.  
  
If there was one thing Ruthie didn't want to happen, it was for Annie to have the satisfaction of grounding her.  
  
So, Ruthie caved in, and traded seats with her mother.  
  
Annie drove the rest of the way to Mary's residence, while Ruthie sat, sulking. Not only was she ticked off for not getting to drive, but as they drove, she began to feel the pain of a sharp, painful headache. How would she be able to enjoy the inevitable fight that was coming if she was struggling with a headache and a pain in her neck?  
  
The day started out so well, but had definitely taken a turn towards the worse in the last few minutes. Ruthie hoped that downward trend would not continue.


	8. Confronting Confrontation

**THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY**

**PART VIII**

* * *

**PG-13 for references to _7th Heaven_**

**(by the way, you all know I don't own this show, right?)**

_based on a true story_

* * *

Stiffness in her neck, tingling in her arms, a massive headache.  
  
It was clear.  
  
Ruthie was injured.  
  
She knew it, but she was trying to hide it.  
  
She just couldn't miss _Annie versus Mary_.  
  
Granted, she knew that she would have to go to the hospital eventually. Just... after the show.

* * *

Mary Camden woke up, alarmed.  
  
How had she managed to fall asleep?  
  
Who knew how many people had called while she was off in dreamland...  
  
And what about Charles?  
  
Mary looked up, over her shoulder. Charles was sitting there, staring at her blankly. Well, at least she didn't have to worry about him.  
  
She did, however, have to worry about Carlos. Her husband was still in jail, to the best of her knowledge, and she had no idea whether or not Lucy had gone to bail him out or not.  
  
Her life was in flux, as it always had been. All Mary could hope for was some sort of security. Some sort of comfort. Mary's life had been so unpredictable—she never knew what would happen next, or where she would be in a month's time.  
  
She'd been a vandal, a firefighter, a flight attendant, a stay at 'home' mom... she'd been 'serious' with more men than she could remember... of course, this was all in the past. But the constant instability in her life was not.  
  
Now, she found herself once again with no idea of where her life would go. She doubted her husband's guilt, yet she knew the possibility was there that he had indeed exposed himself. And if he was found guilty, what then? Would she leave him?  
  
She was jolted from her thoughts by the doorbell.  
  
Mary silently prayed that Carlos had come home.  
  
No such luck.  
  
It was her mother. And her sister. Both, looking rather ticked off.  
  
"Mom?"  
  
"Hello, Mary. How are things?"  
  
"Things are... er... fine."  
  
"Really? Hmm."  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"Can't I visit my own daughter?"  
  
"Yes, of course, but—"  
  
"Are you going to let us in?"  
  
"Uh, sure."  
  
Mary stepped aside for her relatives. Ruthie shot Mary a glare, headache and all.  
  
"How's Charles?" Annie asked.  
  
"He's—"  
  
"How's _Carlos_ doing?"  
  
"Carlos? He's, uh—he's just fine. He's at work right now, so—"  
  
"I see."  
  
Mary had a bad feeling. Granted, she had a bad feeling whenever Annie was nearby. But deep down, Mary just knew that her mother _knew_.  
  
"Carlos, Carlos. Lucy told me something very interesting about Carlos, Mary."  
  
Mary was instantly sick.  
  
"When were you going to tell me, Mary? I think I have a right to know if my son-in-law is in jail."  
  
"Mom, I'm—"  
  
"I'm not done yet, Mary. I, out of the kindness of my heart, let you move into this house. I didn't have to do that. I'm letting you stay in this house virtually for free. I'm helping you with the utilities. I'm helping you with the rent. And you don't even bother to tell me that my son-in-law is in prison."  
  
"I couldn't tell you, I—"  
  
"I have put up with a lot from you, Mary Camden. I had to put up with you destroying public property. I—"  
  
"That was years ago—I was in high school! I was a teenager—"  
  
"Do you know how much pain it caused me to have to send you away?"  
  
"You? Your pain? How do you think it felt for me to be... exiled from my family?"  
  
"Don't raise your voice at me, Mary."  
  
Mary desperately wanted to say _'I'm an adult! I can raise my voice at you if I want!'_  
  
However, the idea of she and her son being homeless didn't appeal to Mary very much.  
  
"I'm going to make this very simple for you to understand, Mary. I do not want a criminal living in my household."  
  
"He's not a criminal! He's my husband!"  
  
"Is he in jail?"  
  
"Yes, but—"  
  
"He's a criminal, Mary." Annie sighed. "Why could you have been like the rest of them? Lucy got married to a wonderful man, who loves her more than he loves anyone else in the world."  
  
If not for a blinding headache, Ruthie would have laughed. Annie continued on.  
  
"Matt is married and in medical school. Meanwhile, you never made anything of yourself, Mary Camden. And whether or not you'll ever make anything of yourself is subject to debate."  
  
Mary desperately wanted to curse her mother out. To slap her in the face. To do something—anything—forcefully enough to tell Annie Camden that she wouldn't stand for the insults any longer.  
  
But Mary was just too emotionally _drained_. Too... _dead_. The only thing she could do was cry.  
  
Annie embraced her daughter.  
  
"It's okay, Mary. I still love you."  
  
Charles, meanwhile, was disturbed by all of this. He stood, watching his mother being enveloped by a larger woman, whom he had seen only once in his life.  
  
Annie looked over Mary's shoulder and saw that Charles was not at all liking what he saw.  
  
"Ruthie, go take Charles to the other room."  
  
Ruthie nodded, grimacing from the stiffness in her neck. The sixteen-year- old took her nephew into another room—still listening for any action between her mother and sister.  
  
Meanwhile, Annie broke her embrace from Mary.  
  
"I know things must be tough for you. But you have to understand. Carlos can_not_ stay here anymore."  
  
"I'm his wife. He's Charles' father. I'm not going to just leave him."  
  
Annie took a deep breath. "Okay. We'll talk when you're calmer, and we'll arrange what we'll do. Maybe we can have Carlos stay in an apartment in the city, and you can visit him every now and then—"  
  
"I'm not going to have my husband move into some apartment! He's my husband! My husband, mom—"  
  
"Like I said, we'll talk when you're more calm. I'm going to go now, and tomorrow, we'll all discuss what will be done. Okay? You, your father and I."  
  
Annie called Ruthie—who had begun to suffer from dizziness—and the two of them left. Mary, meanwhile, was left a virtual mess. Everything was caving in on her. She had to deal with her mother, her husband's arrest, poverty—she wished desperately for an easy way out.  
  
She wondered if she would just take her son and leave. Granted, she had no idea where she would go, but maybe if she just left, somehow things would get better.  
  
The phone. An unpleasant sound for Mary's ears.  
  
Mary picked up the phone, hoping that it was Carlos. No such luck. It was Lucy.  
  
"Mary?"  
  
At the sound of Lucy's voice, Mary became incensed.  
  
"Why? Why did you tell mom? I asked you to—I told you not to! Why would you do something like that?"  
  
"I didn't! I—"  
  
"You didn't? Then how come mother just came here, calling my husband a criminal?"  
  
"I don't know—I didn't tell her, I swear! I didn't!"  
  
"I just don't understand. I mean, I had a feeling that you might do something like this, but I just didn't think you would... I just didn't think you would."  
  
"But I didn't! I swear to God, I didn't. I don't know how mom would have—"  
  
Mary hung up.  
  
She had no time to hear Lucy's lies.  
  
Instead, she grabbed her son, and held him close to her chest. It was almost as if _he_ was comforting _her_.  
  
In fact, that was exactly what it was. 


	9. God's Tears

**THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY**

**PART IX**

* * *

**Rated PG-13 for language, death, and irrational rage. But really, it's not as bad as it sounds.**

**

* * *

**

Lucy was confused.  
  
What was Mary _talking_ about?  
  
Why had she hung _up_ on her?  
  
She just couldn't figure it out.  
  
She knew she hadn't told anyone that Carlos was in the slammer—especially not Annie...  
  
Lucy sighed to herself. She was at a crossroads. She _had_ been calling Mary to let her know she was on her way to the jailhouse. But after the cold reception she had just received, Lucy wondered if she even wanted to help anymore.  
  
_Honestly._  
  
Who did Mary think she _was_?  
  
Accusing Lucy of such terrible things! Especially considering that Lucy didn't have to help or pester her husband about accompanying her to the jailhouse.  
  
Lucy was offended.  
  
Righteously indignant.  
  
_Pissed!  
_  
It wasn't until after several minutes of stewing in her anger that Lucy wondered: "Hey! How _did_ Annie find out, anyway?"  
  
Through a surprisingly long and slow process of elimination, Lucy realized that Ruthie must have found out somehow when she came over to baby-sit.  
  
But how?  
  
Lucy remembered writing down a checklist of things she needed to get Carlos out of jail. Then, she remembered putting the paper down on the table and... eventually leaving the house... Ruthie must have found it, and...  
  
**"That little bitch!"**  
  
"What's wrong, Kevin?"  
  
Lucy turned to her husband, who had just stormed into the house.  
  
"Nothing that concerns you." He said, bitterly. Obviously, Kevin was annoyed. Lucy didn't like it when Kevin was annoyed.  
  
His annoyance usually turned into anger.  
  
And his anger usually turned into another _boating accident_ for Lucy.  
  
Lucy could tell that Kevin was headed for anger mode. She had already asked him to help her bail Carlos out. _(Of course, for Kevin to agree, there had to be incentives involved. We won't go into that.)_  
  
Lucy certainly didn't want to get in a car with **Angry Kevin**. **Angry Kevin** became incensed at every little thing, and usually searched for things to be angry about as well. Lucy, at the expense of Mary, decided that putting off the trip to the jail would be the best thing to do.  
  
"Honey? Why don't we just wait a bit before we—"  
  
"We're going _now_."  
  
"Okay."

* * *

__

_Po__wer_.  
  
It's a good thing.  
  
With it, you can intimidate people. You can make people do whatever you want, whenever you want, for whatever _reason_ you want.  
  
Annie Camden had power over her daughter. She had relinquished it when Mary weaseled her way out of her grasp. But now, she had it again.  
  
And she was loving it.  
  
Annie and Ruthie returned their home, after paying a visit to Mary and making a pitstop at the emergency room. Ruthie had a nice little case of whiplash _(i.e., a sprained neck)_ from her minor accident earlier in the day.  
  
Annie, of course, was quite satisfied with herself. She had delivered her daughter a proverbial beat down. Complete with tears.  
  
The Camden matriarch felt good about herself, and decided to call up El Diablo on an impromptu house call.  
  
The salsa-dancing instructor arrived, happy to get an extra lesson in with Annie. Not necessarily for the dancing. Unscheduled visits meant an extra fifty dollars, in addition to his usual pay.  
  
While Annie danced away, Ruthie dealt with a pain in her neck.  
  
She knew what it was, but that didn't make it better. Annie was to have Eric pick up Ruthie's prescription, but she was either too busy with El Diablo to care, or she had just forgotten.

Ruthie sighed to herself. Not that she _cared_, but it certainly rubbed her the wrong way that Annie wouldn't just call up Eric right away and tell him about the prescription.

While Ruthie thought about this slight _slight_, a white blur began to approach her.

Ruthie couldn't figure out what it was, at first. But, after a moment or two, she knew.  
  
It was Happy, the family dog.  
  
Named for Annie's feelings after Glenoak's first gay couple was forced to move out of town, Happy gleefully trotted over to Ruthie.  
  
Ruthie thought none of this at first, until...  
  
_Wait a second... Happy's dead._  
  
Ruthie jolted upright. She had been imagining things. Silently, the youngest Camden Daughter wondered if her neck injury was more serious than just whiplash.

She rarely had hallucinations. And when she did, they were of a different, more macabre kind.  
  
Jolting upright hadn't been such a bright idea. Ruthie's neck began to hurt again.  
  
The girl grimaced as she fell back, flat on her bed. She looked out of the corner of her eye at the window. It was beginning to rain in Glenoak.

* * *

Growing up, Ruthie had been told by her mother that rain was God's tears. As a tot, Ruthie always wondered how she could make God cry.

So, she would do experiments, such as slicing the ponytail off of one of her classmates at preschool. Or, playfully jamming a fork into her babysitter's thigh. Once, she even dared one of her little friends to play with a match... and she laughed as she watched the results.  
  
It didn't rain when Ruthie did those things.  
  
Yet, on this day, 'God's tears' flowed freely.  
  
Ruthie thought about this for a moment. She knew she was probably reading too much into the presence of rain in Glenoak, but... for one brief, shining moment, she wondered if maybe—just maybe—what she did was wrong.  
  
Then she laughed at the thought, and returned to worrying about her sprained neck.


	10. Stranded

**THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY**

**PART X**

* * *

**PG-13 for references to Glenoak**

_Based on a true story_

* * *

The rain fell heavily, pounding the road that Lucy and Kevin Kinkirk were driving on.  
  
Kevin was angry.  
  
When he was angry, he drove fast. Very fast. So fast, he usually broke the speed limit. Of course, he had no worries about the law. He was a _policeman_, after all.  
  
Lucy didn't like this. Her _child_ was in the backseat, sleeping, and her husband was speeding away on a wet road.  
  
She was petrified of the prospect of having to ask Kevin to slow down, but she knew she had to anyway.  
  
"Any chance you could slow down, honey?"  
  
"Do you want to drive the car, Lucy?"  
  
"I wasn't—"  
  
"Then hush."  
  
Kevin sped up even more, while Lucy silently prayed that she and her child would get to the jail in one piece.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mary Camden-Rivera pondered. _Thought_.  
  
_Wouldn't it be nice to get away? To leave this mess of a life and start all over?_  
  
Needless to say, Mary couldn't just up and _leave_.

Or could she?  
  
What did she have to hold _on_ to?  
  
An irresponsible husband who was in jail at that very moment? A home she couldn't feel comfortable in because her _mother _was letting her stay there? A host of bad memories that flooded her mind every time she looked around the house?  
  
Mary needed to _leave!_  
  
Needed to get out of that _house_. Needed to get out of _Glenoak_. Needed to get far away from Annie and Carlos.  
  
She could take Charles with her. She could move. Far away. Maybe to Ohio. Ohio always sounded good to her...

She could get a job. A _good_ job—a reasonable job that she could hold down for an extended period of time—unlike her stint as a firefighter or the one as a flight attendant.  
  
Housing?  
  
**BANG!** Problem.  
  
She couldn't just move to Ohio with no place to stay.  
  
Maybe a shelter until she could get on her feet...  
  
But _no_. She couldn't have Charles living in a shelter... and besides, what would she do with him when she went to work? It was bad enough to have Charles living in a shelter, but to leave him there while she went to work was **not going to happen**.  
  
And not only that, but, how would she get to Ohio in the first place?  
  
She had _no car_. No _money_ for a potential flight or bus trip.  
  
She couldn't just walk to America's heartland—that was insane.  
  
It was clear. Mary Camden was stranded. Stranded in Glenoak, stranded in her mother's house.  
  
She had one more last-gasp idea of getting a job in the city and raising enough money to move eventually, but...  
  
She would need transportation. Transportation and someone to watch Charles.  
  
Transportation was out of the question, considering Carlos' legal situation and the rules her mother had set earlier that afternoon.

If Mary was to be living under Annie's roof, she wouldn't even be able to have Carlos at the house. The idea that Carlos would pick her up on his way to work was almost ludicrous. Mary knew Carlos would leave her once she 'kicked him out', so to speak.  
  
And she would _have_ to kick him out.  
  
Mary knew—and she had a gut feeling that she wasn't just 'paranoid'—that Annie had people—neighbors—watching her. Not that this was such a _hard_ thing to do, keeping tabs on someone in _Glenoak._  
  
If Mary still had Carlos living with her, people would notice and tell Annie. And Annie would kick Mary and her three-year-old son out onto the street.  
  
Mary didn't need that. Especially not for Charles.  
  
All of this essentially meant that Mary was completely and totally stuck.

She had no transportation, which meant she couldn't get a job, which meant she couldn't make any money, which meant she couldn't get out of her mother's house.  
  
This realization made Mary very, very suicidal.  
  
Of course, Mary could always ask for help from one of her family members. She could always ask for a helping hand from the likes of Simon or Matt.  
  
But the very idea of having to ask one of her siblings for money or any other assistance made Mary feel like putting her _fingers_ through a _meat grinder_.  
  
Mary had already swallowed most of her pride by moving into her mother's house. She didn't want to use up the remaining drops of it by begging for money from her own family.  
  
Especially after Lucy betrayed her earlier...

* * *

Speaking of Lucy, the young wife and mother was currently thanking the Lord for allowing her to get to the jail without getting killed.  
  
Kevin had driven like a maniac all the way to the penitentiary, and had satisfied his anger.  
  
Now, came bailing Carlos out of jail.  
  
Lucy hadn't seen Carlos in quite awhile, and was surprised by his appearance.  
  
He was... less than handsome. Of course, this may have had to do with the fact that he had been in jail overnight. But, _nevertheless_.  
  
Kevin handled paying bail. It was hard for the policeman to do, considering his hatred of criminals, but he knew there was a great reward waiting for him. Not surprisingly, Kevin's 'great reward' was Lucy's 'harsh sentence'.  
  
She wasn't looking forward to fulfilling her end of the deal she made with her husband.  
  
That aside, she was happy to see Carlos make those first steps out of his jail cell, partly due to the fact that Mary would be forever indebted to her. Or, at least, _Lucy_ thought so.  
  
Carlos said the obligatory _'thank you's_ to Kevin, and then didn't speak a single word on the way to his residence. Neither did Lucy, for that matter. Kevin said a few things, but not to the inhabitants of his car. A driver had cut him off, causing the cop to spout several obscenities and a few racial epithets.  
  
Lucy had grown used to Kevin's road rage. It was a staple of her driving experience. One thing Lucy was not used to was the idea of an accused criminal sitting next to her child. She had asked Kevin for permission to sit in the back with her son while Carlos sat in the front, but she was denied.  
  
This forced Lucy to constantly stare into the vanity mirror, getting a good look of what was going on in the backseat.

Much to Lucy's ease, Carlos stayed virtually frozen for the ride, and didn't so much as look at her child.

* * *

Mary's heart nearly stopped at the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. She hoped against hope that she wasn't setting herself up for a let down, and went to the nearest window.  
  
At the sight of Carlos stepping out of Lucy's car, Mary was extremely relieved. Not overjoyed, but relieved.  
  
One of her problems had been solved... for the time being.  
  
That only meant, though, that another problem would come up very, very quickly.  
  
Now that Carlos was back from the slammer, Mary would have to tell him about the meeting she and he were to have with her parents the next day. A meeting that would very likely end up with Carlos being told he had to leave.


	11. The Conversation

**THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY**

**PART XI**

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**PG-13 for no apparent reason.**

**Based on a true story**

_P.S., don't forget to watch the Olympics on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Bravo, Telemundo, NBCHD, ESPN, ESPN2, FOX, ABC Family, CBS, CNN, Nickelodeon, The WB, UPN, HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and CourtTV._

* * *

Mary's heart nearly stopped at the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. She hoped against hope that she wasn't setting herself up for a let down, and went to the nearest window.  
  
At the sight of Carlos stepping out of Lucy's car, Mary was extremely relieved. Not overjoyed, but relieved.  
  
One of her problems had been solved... for the time being.  
  
That only meant, though, that another problem would come up very, very quickly.  
  
Now that Carlos was back from the slammer, Mary would have to tell him about the meeting she and he were to have with her parents the next day. A meeting that would very likely end up with Carlos being told he had to leave.

The specter of this hung over Carlos' entrance. He was accompanied, unfortunately for Mary, by Lucy.

Mary and Carlos embraced, but not too comfortably. Mary knew her troubles were just getting started. Knowing that made it hard for anything to be comfortable.

"Oh, baby, I was so _scared_." Carlos said, his hands traveling to his wife's posterior. This seemed inappropriate, considering that Lucy was standing right there.

"I know. I know you were..." Mary said, with no actual knowledge of whether or not this was true. She broke their embrace, and looked Carlos in the eye. "What's going to happen?"

Carlos didn't answer at first.

"I don't... I don't know." He said.

In the background, tears began to form in Lucy's eyes. Of course, this wasn't surprising at all. Lucy was very emotional. This character trait irritated Kevin, who took to repeatedly telling her to 'stop crying' by using terms such as _'shut up'_, or _'shut the hell up'_.

Of course, that's another story.

Mary and Carlos embraced each other once more, before Carlos went off to take a much-needed shower.

This left Mary and Lucy alone together.

Kevin had given Lucy an allotted fifteen minutes to talk to Mary. Lucy hoped to use these fifteen minutes to mend a broken bridge.

"Mary—"

"I don't want to talk to you, Lucy."

"I didn't tell mom."

"I don't have time for this, Lucy. Okay? Just go."

"But I didn't. I swear. Can't you just believe me, Mary?"

"Believe you? Lucy, you don't know what I have to put up with now." Mary lowered her voice to a whisper. "Mom wants me to kick Carlos out."

Lucy digested this for a moment, and continued on.

"It wasn't me. I swear."

"Okay, then. Who was it? Is was mom psychic or something?"

"No. I had Ruthie babysit for me today, and—"

"Lucy, mom told me that _you told her_."

"Well, I don't know why mom would say something like that, because I didn't tell her. I swear. I didn't tell her."

"Just go, Luce."

"Mary, just hear me out."

"Hear you out? Hear you out?" Mary began to whisper again. "For God's sake, Lucy, my husband is going to leave me because of you!"

"_Leave_ you? What do you mean?"

"Do you really think he's going to stick around once I tell him to go? Do you?"

"Well, I'm sure that—"

"Just leave. Just leave, Lucy."

"But Mary, you've got to listen to me. I didn't tell mom. I don't know why she would say that I did, but I didn't. It was Ruthie. Believe me. If you would just let me explain--"

"I don't. I _don't_ believe you. I can't deal with this right now. I've got bigger things to worry about."

"Mary, you don't understand. What happened, was that—"

"I know what happened, Lucy. I just think it would be best if you left. Okay?"

Lucy thought for a moment, and came to an important realization.

"Wait a minute, Mary. You should be _thanking _me. You should be _grateful_ to me--I brought your husband back. Without me, you'd be sitting here, not knowing when or if you'd ever see him again."

Lucy did have a point, Mary realized.

"Okay. And how does that change the fact that everyone in this whole... family knows that Carlos was in prison?"

"It doesn't! But what I'm saying is that the least you can do is let me explain myself. I didn't tell mom. I swear, I didn't. And if you would just listen to me, and hear me out, then you would understand."

Mary sighed. She looked at her sister, not really wanting to hear what she had to say. Yet, Mary knew that she did have to let Lucy state her case. After all, she did bail Carlos out of jail.

"Fine. Go ahead."

"Okay." Lucy looked at her watch. "I don't have much time, so I'll make this quick. I had written some things you told me about Carlos being in jail. When left this morning, I left it on the table by accident. Ruthie must have found it, read it, and told mom about it."

"I don't get it."

"Me neither. I know Ruthie likes to snoop around, but this isn't--"

"No, _that_ part I get. I don't get how you could leave something like that out in plain view--accident or not."

"Mary, I'm dealing with problems of my own, too. I have a son, I have a husband--I have a life. No offense. Sometimes, I'll mess something up--it's not like I did it on purpose."

Lucy paused for a moment. She was running out of time.

"Do you at least believe me?"

"I don't know what to believe. What I don't get is... why would mom lie and tell me that you told her? What's the point of doing that?"

"Well... I don't know. All I know is that I didn't tell her. Look, I've got to go. If you need any help... just... call me. But not after four."

Mary nodded. With that, Lucy left the house with thirty seconds to spare. Unfortunately for Lucy, Kevin's watch was about a minute faster than hers.

The car ride home would not be a happy one for the young wife and mother.

Meanwhile, Mary was left to wonder if there was anyone she could really trust. God only knew what Carlos was doing each day while she wasn't around. Annie, Ruthie and Lucy were contributing greatly to Mary's headaches as well.

Not only that, but Mary had a child to take care of as well. She could only wonder how her son would turn out with a childhood such as this.


End file.
